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Leverage the GKE on GDC to run container workloads on
Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped appliance. You create Kubernetes clusters on
GDC to run container workloads, and can scale them
even after cluster provisioning as your compute requirements evolve. You can
provision up to two user clusters in GDC to support your
compute requirements.
Kubernetes clusters are logically separated from each other to provide different failure
domains and isolation guarantees. In some cases, they are even physically
separated. An organization in GDC has a dedicated set
of clusters. The following cluster types are available in an organization:
Admin cluster: This cluster runs the control plane components of
managed services for the organization. It also hosts some
core infrastructure services. The admin cluster is created when the system
is bootstrapped.
System cluster: This cluster runs virtual machine (VM) workloads and
some managed service data plane workloads for the organization. The system
cluster is created when the system is bootstrapped.
User clusters: You can optionally create user clusters to run
container-based workloads for the organization. The number of worker nodes
depends on the utilization of the cluster. You can scale them as your needs
evolve.
You can create and manage user clusters using the GDC
console. This section of topics covers the management of user clusters. For more
information on creating and managing containers in a user cluster, see the
Deploy container workloads
section.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eKubernetes clusters can be created on Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) to run container workloads, with the ability to scale them based on changing compute needs.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eGDC supports multiple cluster types, including admin, system, and user clusters, each serving distinct purposes within an organization.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAdmin and system clusters are established during the system's initial setup, while user clusters can be created as needed to accommodate container-based workloads.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUser clusters can be managed through the GDC console, offering flexibility in handling containerized applications.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Kubernetes cluster overview\n\nLeverage the GKE on GDC to run container workloads on\nGoogle Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped appliance. You create Kubernetes clusters on\nGDC to run container workloads, and can scale them\neven after cluster provisioning as your compute requirements evolve. You can\nprovision up to two user clusters in GDC to support your\ncompute requirements.\n\nKubernetes clusters are logically separated from each other to provide different failure\ndomains and isolation guarantees. In some cases, they are even physically\nseparated. An organization in GDC has a dedicated set\nof clusters. The following cluster types are available in an organization:\n\n- **Admin cluster**: This cluster runs the control plane components of managed services for the organization. It also hosts some core infrastructure services. The admin cluster is created when the system is bootstrapped.\n- **System cluster**: This cluster runs virtual machine (VM) workloads and some managed service data plane workloads for the organization. The system cluster is created when the system is bootstrapped.\n- **User clusters**: You can optionally create user clusters to run container-based workloads for the organization. The number of worker nodes depends on the utilization of the cluster. You can scale them as your needs evolve.\n\nYou can create and manage user clusters using the GDC\nconsole. This section of topics covers the management of user clusters. For more\ninformation on creating and managing containers in a user cluster, see the\n[Deploy container workloads](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/appliance/application/ao-user/containers/containers-intro)\nsection."]]
